Hi mate , I have a pair of Bushnell Powerviews 10x42 and a pair of bushnell 10X42 LEGEND E-SERIES , Both great binos, The powerviews go for $140 ish the legends go for 300 ish, My opinion leupolds are over priced there are plenty of other brands out there that have great optics and will definitely do the job for you!
I was doing the same thing with the same budget. I ended up getting some Sightron 10x40 from Deadeye dicks but was also looking at Bushnell Trophy, Bone collector and Nikon
https://www.jacobsdigital.co.nz/coll...ll-8x42-trophy
https://www.jacobsdigital.co.nz/coll...x42-roof-prism
https://www.jacobsdigital.co.nz/coll...ism-waterproof
https://www.jacobsdigital.co.nz/coll...-42-roof-prism
https://www.jacobsdigital.co.nz/coll...a211-binocular
https://www.jacobsdigital.co.nz/coll...n-a211-8-18x42
Jacobs had a large range available but there are other places to get them. I was able to get some decent prices from some of the local stores but the Sightrons took my fancy and thats they way I went.
I would avoid cheap zoom versions like the plague. You're paying for unnecessary mechanicals at the expense of basic optical quality, and there's far more to go wrong with them.
Saw a classic example on a mate's boat on the weekend. They were Bushnells and the collimation was so bad, it near ripped your eyes out after 10 secs.
Minox BF 10 x 42 BR Binoculars | Trade Me
Minox Trade Me
Hit the Mrs up for the fly buys points, there's usually some on there, get the better ones.
Basically free.
I have a pair of Vortex Diamond Backs I bought sight unseen for my boys to use so I could get my Leica's back when hunting rabbits. My brother has a pair of budget end Leupolds. The Leupolds beat the Vortex hands down. I looked at everything that was on offer at this years Sika show, and you will not get better than Leupold in any price bracket under $1K.
Thanks for narrowing down the field - I missed out on the minox on trademe so went to H&F to have a look through the yosemites and mcKenzies and pick my winner but after about 1/2 hour and 1/2 dozen different pairs of binos in my price range I walked out with a pair of Bushnell trophy bone collector's. I couldnt put my finger on it but I kept coming back to them as they just suited my eyes (or piss poor eyesight) better.
Yip as said bushnell trophy xlt 10× great binos
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